Shield for protecting the hand and holding the stalk during cane cutting and like operations



Nov. 1l, 1969 BIO INVENTOR FERNANDO J. CASTRO BY www ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent O U.S. Cl. 294-16 2 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Ashield for protecting the hand while cutting cane or the like with aswing instrument such as machete, having a rigid part protecting andcovering the back of the hand and the thumb, the tip end of which curvesinwardly toward the palm of the hand to surround a cane stalk. Withinthis protective part there is a transverse bar which is grasped by thehand to hold and support the shield, and forwardly of this there is atransverse lever bar which is grasped by the ngers and operated to pusha bar forwardly toward the inwardly turned end part so that the stalkbeing cut may `be held between the bar and the inwardly turned part tohold it in position while being cut.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theprotective device provided by the invention,

FIG. 2 is a bottom view thereof showing the position of a stalk which isbeing held in the protective device while being cut, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In cutting stalk crops with a swinginstrument such as a machete the stalk is usually held with one handwhile it is being cut `with the swing instrument held by the other. Asthe worker must continue the repetitive cutting operation hour afterhour, and often becomes careless or inattentive, it is desirable toprovide some means for protecting the hand which holds the stalk inorder to prevent it from being cut by the swinging sharp blade of thecutting tool. This invention provides a new and useful device forproviding protection to the hand and also providing a mechanical meansfor holding the stalk while it is being cut, thus essentially removingthe human hand from the holding part of the operation, thereby reducingto an absolute minimum the possibility of cutting the stalk holdinghand.

The protective and holding device provided by the invention isillustrated in perspective in FIG. l of the drawings and in `bottom planand section in the other figure, and comprises a shield formed of metalor other material which will resist and deect any blow by the swingingcutting tool. The protective device is U-shaped in cross-section havingside walls 2, 4 connected by a back wall member 6 and is of such lengththat it extends forwardly ibeyond the fingertips and rearwardlysufficiently to cover the back of the forearm. The side walls arerelatively shallow with respect to the lateral extent of the back wall,but the U-shaped device is sufiiciently deep that when it is in positionthe side walls provide full protection to the thickness of the hand andforearm. When in operative position the inside wall of the back member 6engages and covers the back of the hand and the forearm, while the sidewalls cover the thickness of the hand and forearm.

At its forward end, outwardly of the finger tips of the hand which holdsthe protective device the `back wall 6 of the protective device isturned inwardly, i.e. toward the palm of the hand, and is centrallybifurcated to form two inwardly curved parts 8, 10 which are separatedby a central opening 12. These parts are positioned outwardly of the endedges 14, 16 of the side walls 2, 4 to provide a space therebetweenwithin a stalk is positioned while being cut, as will be described. Theouter surface of the back member 6 is reinforced by longitudinallyextending ribs 18, 2t]l which are spaced apart laterally of the backmember and extend longitudinally thereof from a point adjacent the rearend of the protective device along and over the outer surfaces of thecurved holding members 8, lll. Like the entire protective device, theseribs may be formed of metal or other material which will resist anddeflect a -blow of the cutting instrument.

In order to provide additional protection to the thumb the side wall 2has connected to it a plate 22 which is formed of metal or otherprotective material and which extends outwardly from the side wall 2 inthe same general plane as the side wall and adjacent the forward edge 14thereof, with its forward edge 24 aligned with the forward edge 14 ofthe side wall 2.

Means are provided by the invention Iby which the protective device maybe held in place on the hand and forearm during the cutting operation,and such means comprise a bar or rod 30 which extends transversely ofthe protective device within the same and between the side walls 2, 4more adjacent the rear end of the protective device than the forward endthereof. When the device is used the `bar 30 will be grasped by the lefthand, thus holding it in position covering the back of the hand and thefingers, with the auxiliary plate 22 providing additional protection tothe thumb.

Means are provided by the invention for holding a stalk A within theforward part of the protective device so that the stalk need not be heldby the hand, thus reducing to an absolute minimum the possibility ofcutting the holding hand. Such means comprise, first, an abutment member31, having a downwardly extending plate 31a, which extends transverselyof the protective device and within it and which is mounted at itsopposite ends on the forward ends of two rods 32, 34 which arepositioned, respectively, adjacent the inner surfaces of the two sidewalls 2, 4 at the forward ends thereof. These rods are mounted forsliding movement. longitudinally of the protective device and towardand] away from the inturned fingers 8, 10 and are held in this slidingrelation to the side walls by straps 36, 238 which are respectivelyattached in spaced relation to the inner surfaces of the side walls. Therear ends of the rods 32, 34 are connected, respectively, to the upperends of two levers 40, 42 which are pivoted, respectively, adjacenttheir midpoints to the side walls 2, 4 at 44, 46. The lower ends ofthese levers are connected by a rod 48 which extends transversely of theprotective device adjacent and forwardly of the transverse gripping bar30. The movable abutment member is normally held in retracted positionaway from the inturned lingers 8, 10 by an extension spring 50 which isconnected at its one end to the abutment member and at its other end tothe back lmember 5 of the protective device at 52.

When the protective and stalk holding device provided by the inventionis to be used, the worker grasps the transverse rbar 30 with one handand the cutting tool with the other. When he so grasps the protectivedevice the back `6 thereof extends over and covers the back of the handand the forearm with the side walls 2, 4 above and below the sides ofthe hand and wrist and the auxiliary plate 22 covering and providingadditional protection to the thumb. In this position the inwardly curvedmembers 8, 10 are positioned considerably forwardly of the hand. Theworker now positions these inwardly curved lingers in partiallysurrounding relation to the stalk A, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and theworker now grasps with his fingers the lever bar 48 and pulls it towardthe grasping bar 30. This operates the levers 40, 42, moving thetransverse member 31 toward the inwardly turned lingers 8, 10 and intoengagement with the stalk A. The stalk is thereby held between themovable transverse member 31 and the inwardly turned lingers 8, 1()` andis therefore not held by the hand in any way, thus preventing the handfrom being cut. If the machete or other cutting tool should miss thestalk or otherwise be directed toward the holding hand it will strikethe protective device, thus fully protecting the holding hand.

I claim:

1. A device for protecting the hand while manually cutting a stalk withan instrument held by the other hand, the protective device comprisingan elongated rigid member which is U-shaped in cross-section having aback portion and side members which respectively cover the back andsides of the hand, a holding bar extending between the side walls to begrasped by the hand to hold the device in position when it is used, theforward end of the back member extending beyond the transverse holdingbar and 4being inwardly curved to provide a part for engaging the stalkwhich is to be cut, and manually operable means within the devicemovable toward and away from the inwardly extending curved part toengage and hold a stalk held by the curved part.

2. A protective device according to claim 1, in which the means toengage and hold the stalk comprises an abutment member mounted withinthe protective device for movement toward and away from the protectivedevice, the abutment member being connected to the ends of leverspivoted to the side walls of the protective device, an'operating barpositioned within the protective device between the holding bar and theabutment member and mounted on the ends of said levers remote from theends to which the abutment member is connected, and a spring normallyurging the abutment member away from the inwardly curved part of theback member, whereby movement of the operating bar toward the holdingbar moves the abutment member against the force of the spring toward theinwardly curved part and into engagement with a stalk held thereby.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 856,635 6/1907 Hazzard 294-131 XFOREIGN PATENTS 19,282 8/1882 Germany.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner G. F. ABRAHAM, Assistant ExaminerU.S. C1. X.R. 294-25, 131

